When Tina decides to attend an art school's dance with a ballet prodigy named Josh instead of going to her middle-school dance with Jimmy Jr., Jimmy tries to win her back. Meanwhile, Linda shanghais Bob into chaperoning the dance at Wagstaff School to make up for all the dances Bob missed out on as a kid.
Tropes For Tina:
- Alone Among the Couples: Discussed; Zeke claims he's going stag to the school dance. He ends up not going at all to help Jimmy Jr. win back Tina.
- Tina's attempts at compromise lead to her being alone at the school dance when Josh and Jimmy Jr. bond over their dance-off.
- Ambiguously Bi: Tina once made a papier-mache boy named Roberto, and Gene may have showered with it.
- While drunk, Linda calls Miss Jacobson hot to her face.
- Badass Boast: How Jimmy Jr. introduces himself to Josh:Josh: And you are...?
Jimmy Jr.: Better than you. - Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: Gene and Louise suggest Tina distract herself from the prospect of rejection with thoughts of leather belts, sausage, or sausage belts.Gene: That's a great idea.
- Brutal Honesty:
- Zeke offers to help Jimmy Jr. win back Tina, but freely admits he has no idea if it's going to work.
- Douglas admits that there was one loser after the dance-off—Tina.
- Camp Gay: Douglas, a snippy schoolmate of Josh's.
- Can't Hold His Liquor: Bob and Linda get massively drunk on two small bottles of schnapps that Linda smuggled into the school, enough for Linda to vomit mid-dance and enough to force Miss Jacobson to kick them out.
- Comically Missing the Point: Bob tells the story of him getting dumped right before his school dance as a warning for Tina not to string along Jimmy Jr. and Josh. Linda instead interprets it as a cry for help and vows she'll help make up for his missed dance.
- Continuity Nod: Tina and Josh make reference to their first meeting (and kiss) in "Lindapendant Woman". Jimmy Jr. also references the fact that he was Tina's first kiss.
- Cringe Comedy: Everything about Jimmy Jr.'s T-I-N-A song. From the repetitive lyrics, to the fact that he's in a horse costume, to the fact that there's a fairly sizable crowd nearby to watch him utterly embarrass himself.
- Don't Explain the Joke: Tina's Ironic Echo is ruined by her trying to explain afterwards that she's explicitly quoting Jimmy Jr.'s earlier statement.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Jen the babysitter debuts here, but her role is fairly minor and she has only a couple lines in contrast to her much larger appearance in Season 4's "Purple Rain-Union".
- Even the Girls Want Her: Miss Jacobson is so attractive that Linda (who otherwise has only shown attraction to men) has to comment on it.
- Every Man Has His Price: According to Louise, the price of love is $20, and forces Jimmy Jr. to pay that amount to enlist her and Gene's services in wooing Tina. The two immediately go tell Tina about the plan.
- Exact Words: Bob claims he didn't go to his middle school dance. Well, he didn't... because he got dumped right before it.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: After Linda assumes Bob wants to dance with Miss Jacobson and shuts herself in the girls' bathroom, Bob tries to talk to her. Eventually he snaps and tells her she's acting like a middle schooler... at which point he realizes that she's intentionally acting like one because it's part of her plan to make his dance experience much more "authentic" (and dramatic).
- Extreme Doormat: Jen quickly folds to letting Louise and Gene go all the way to Josh's middle school, though she does at least accompany them.
- Freudian Excuse: Bob's hatred of school dances comes from an incident as a teen when he got dumped right before his middle school dance (as in, he was literally about to enter the building when he got dumped). It's apparently pitiable enough for a limo driver to give him and Linda a discount.
- Green-Eyed Epiphany: Jimmy Jr. initially shows no interest in Tina. Then he learns Josh also asked her out, and immediately becomes interested.Jimmy Jr.: When you tell me "no" it makes me want you more!
- Green-Eyed Monster:
- Jimmy Jr. once he learns about Tina's interest in Josh. Everybody lampshades that Jimmy Jr. is only interested in her because Josh asked her first.
- Subverted. Linda seems to be jealous of Bob paying more attention to a Hot Teacher who's helping them chaperone the dance, but she's actually putting on a show to give Bob the full "middle school dance" experience.
- Hot Teacher: Bob and Linda both comment on Miss Jacobson's good looks.Bob: Why is she a teacher? She should be, like, playing a teacher on TV.
- Ignored Expert: Bob may have a personal vendetta against school dances, but he's right when he says Tina shouldn't lead on both Jimmy Jr. and Josh, both because it's wrong and because it could end badly. When she continues to lead them on, she eventually can't decide between them, and her attempt at a compromise causes both boys to lose interest.
- Incompatible Orientation: Douglas clearly has a thing for Josh (and gets jealous when Tina hogs his attention), but Josh has shown no indication of being interested in guys.
- Ironic Echo: When Jimmy Jr. asks Tina if she'll change her mind, Tina throws his indecisive "maybe" back at him.
- Jerk Jock: The guy Bob's middle school girlfriend dumped him for is implied to be one.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Tina leading on Josh and Jimmy Jr. leads to both eventually rejecting her. Everyone lampshades it at the end.Tina: I got greedy and grabby.
Gene: You flew too close to the buns. - Nice Guy: Josh comes across as this compared to Jimmy Jr., who only shows more of an interest in Tina when he learned someone else asked her out. In fact, both Bob and Linda advise Tina that she should stick with Josh since he gave her a definite answer instead of a vague one like Jimmy Jr. did.
- Noodle Incident: Someone from Wagstaff (a K-8 school, it should be mentioned) somehow got herpes.
- Polyamory: When even the dance-off can't help her decide, Tina suggests she and the boys "put the 'try' in 'triangle'". Josh and Jimmy are not on board with the idea.
- Put on a Bus: This is Josh's last appearance until Season 10.
- Sequel Hook: While Josh (and Jimmy Jr.) turn down Tina at the end when she tries to have both of them, he does tell her to give him a call once she's back to being a 'one guy kind of a gal' again (Sadly, Josh doesn't reappear on the show for several seasons after this episode).
- Technician vs. Performer: The dance-off displays this dynamic, pitting Josh (the technician) against Jimmy Jr. (the performer).
- Teen Pregnancy: Discussed; after getting her and Bob hired as chaperones, Linda claims that no teens will get pregnant under her watch. Keep in mind she's talking about a dance at a school where the oldest students are fourteen (though, given a Wagstaff student apparently has herpes, she might not be too unjustified in preparing for that).
- A Threesome Is Hot: To try and solve the love triangle, Tina has the idea of Josh and Jimmy Jr. both hooking up with her. The boys are not interested.
- Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Linda gets drunk and pukes all over Bob. It's visible on both his back and front, and leads to him trying to take his shirt off.
- Worthy Opponent: Josh and Jimmy Jr. bond over their dance-off.
